SEBASTIAN — The walls are painted and the carpet laid inside the new Sebastian Senior Center behind Sebastian City Hall. The center is expected to be open and ready for the first hands of Canasta and rounds of Mahjong and Dominoes on Tuesday, Sept. 4.
“We are doing well,” said Sebastian City Councilwoman Andrea Coy of raising the needed funds to get the center going.
More money, though, is still needed in order to reach the $3,000 goal Coy set to take care of the first round of renovations to the former Keep Indian River Beautiful office behind where the Sebastian River Art Club and other organizations meet.
“We need cash,” Coy said, noting that the seniors would rather be able to purchase the items they need rather than take donated items. “We don’t want this to look like a Goodwill thrift shop.”
To that end, many residents and organizations have made donations to the effort, including City Clerk Sally Maio and her husband, Fred, who provided eight brand new card tables, other city employees, Indian River RV, the Sebastian River Junior Woman’s Club, and many others.
On Monday, G-N-L Flooring, a new Sebastian flooring company, donated its labor and provided the carpet at cost for the Sebastian Senior Center.
When contacted about helping with the carpet at the center, owner Gary Lachowicz didn’t hesitate. He was on vacation in the Florida Keys when the call came in from Coy through a mutual friend. As soon as he got back, he reached out to Coy.
“It’s such a needed senior center,” Lachowicz said, explaining that he has seen first-hand the benefits of such facilities.
His own father regularly attended functions at a senior center – begrudgingly at first, according to Lachowicz. Soon, though, his dad developed friendships and looked forward to going.
When he could no longer attend, “He really missed it,” Lachowicz said of his dad.
At 53, Lachowicz said he could see himself coming out to the center from time to time to participate in the games and activities.
Coy plans to hold a public meeting at the Sebastian Senior Center on Friday to discuss forming a non-profit organization so the city can hand over control.
“The City of Sebastian is going to get out of this as soon as” a non-profit is created, Coy said.
The meeting, too, is expected to develop leadership out of the seniors and help to establish what activities will be held there and what hours the center will operate. The meeting will be held at 10 a.m.
Seniors need not live within the city, Coy said, in order to participate – and “seniors” means those 50 or older.
Anyone interested in helping to form the non-profit or learn more about the center is encouraged to attend the Friday morning meeting or to call Coy at (772) 388-0961.
Those who wish to donate financially to the cause can send checks made payable to City of Sebastian – with a note on the memo line for “Senior Center Project” – and drop them off at City Hall or mail them to City Hall, City Clerk’s Office, 1225 Main St., Sebastian, FL 32958. Cash donations, too, would be accepted.